Deedlit
'' “I was once like you are now. I volunteered to go to the outside world. That was back before you were born. Back when I thought there was hope for the outside world. And hope for humans. My hopes soon turned to despair. I saw friends killing each other, and the man who killed the most was praised as a hero. I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t want to believe it...Maybe I sided with you so I could punish you. No matter how hard I try, you never seem to understand. You’re going to have to see the ugly truth for yourself. Then maybe you’ll get a taste of despair.”- Deedlit to Parn'' 'Background' Deedlit is the youngest of the high elves, and the only child born in a thousand years—Estas being the last child born before her. Her mother and father were both ancient by human terms when she was born. As the youngest of her people, the high elven clan pinned its hopes on her. Though Estas was already over a thousand years old himself when she was born, he and Deedlit were expected to one day marry. As she reached adulthood, Estas became Deedlit’s good friend and caretaker. When she went off exploring the forest, he was often on her heels. He taught her much of shamanism and swordsmanship. Despite the fact that she was a grown woman, Deedlit was still quite immature and playful, much to Estas’s frustration. She grew to be rather curious of the world outside the forest, but she had been raised to fear and hate humans for their destructive nature. One day, Deedlit and Estas saw a ghostly image of a human from the Forest of Lost Souls—the realm created by Ento to hold trespassing humans. It seemed that the man was trying to break free, so Estas went to speak to the elder about it. Meanwhile, Deedlit went exploring and traveled to the edge of the forest, as far as she dared to go. Hearing dogs barking, she went to investigate and found a human hunter hunting rabbits on the outskirts of the forest. She was upset to see him with dead rabbits, but he quickly explained that humans needed to eat meat to survive, and that he never took more than he needed. He described himself as a part of the forest, much like a fox or other predator, and that he respected nature. Deedlit was convinced, and they spoke further. His name was Jord, and he explained that he knew how to avoid the traps of the Forest of No Return. However, his father hadn’t been so lucky. Fifteen years ago, his mother fell ill and his father went hunting to earn some money for medicine. Jord assumed that his father, in haste, ignored the warning and got trapped in the forest. After speaking to Jord, Deedlit gave him a warning and sent him on his way, then returned home. He had seemed so familiar, and she realized that he looked like the man she and Estas saw earlier! It seemed likely that he was Jord’s father. After learning that Estas had been sent to kill the man, Deedlit followed him into the Forest of Lost Souls. She found him just as he was about to deliver the deathblow on Jord’s father and stopped him. She told them both about meeting Jord, and his father was astonished that it had been so long since he became lost. He said that he decided to hunt a legendary beast in the forest so he could collect a reward and buy medicine for his wife. He believed that because he hunted out of greed, the forest had punished him. Estas agreed to let him go. He was freed from the curse and sent home to his family. It was shortly afterwards that the elder announced that she sensed a great evil in the world and that she wanted someone to investigate. Deedlit eagerly volunteered, but most elves were against it. Estas was expected to be the one to leave, but surprisingly, he actually supported Deedlit. It was agreed that Deedlit would go, and she was provided with armor and a sword. It wasn’t until Estas said farewell that she knew why he had supported her. Despite this, Deedlit was not deterred. She was just as determined as ever to make her own opinion about humans. Even with Estas’s lecture, she set out into the world, full of hope. It wasn’t soon after that Deedlit met Parn. While traveling in Alania, Deedlit observed an army of goblins heading toward a human village in broad daylight. She first tracked down their den, to find it empty save for two human men. After telling them the goblins were going to the village, she let the humans deal with the problem. Several days later, she met them again. Parn, she learned the young man was named, was a headstrong youth who aspired to be a knight, but lacked in the skills. Etoh, his childhood friend, was a Falis priest. Slayn, a sorcerer from Zaxon, and Ghim, a dwarf, had joined them. They too had been sent on a mission to discover the root of the evil looming over Lodoss. After a false imprisonment, and a battle with the Marmo army, they were joined by a thief, Woodchuck. Their journey took them through the Forest of No Return—where Woodchuck, Ghim, and Parn were almost lost—and then to the rescue of princess Fianna of Valis. With Fianna, they traveled to Roid where they were honored for their valor and told of the war with the Marmo Empire. They also learned about the witch, Karla, as she had been the kidnapper of Fianna. Ghim recognized her as Leylia, a Marfa priestess he had been close to and who disappeared seven years earlier. They were sent to see the sage Wort for more information on Karla, and learned that she was an ancient Kastuulian sorceress who bound her soul to a circlet so she could live on by possessing the bodies of others. Her purpose for this was so that she could maintain the balance of powers in Lodoss so it wouldn’t be destroyed in the same way Kastuul had. It seemed that Leylia had been taken by her. Through the trip, Deedlit found herself increasingly intrigued, and eventually attracted to Parn, but the boy hardly noticed her interest at first. These people were nothing like the humans Estas spoke about. Parn was called a hero for rescuing Fianna, but he slaughtered no one for the title. Her companions were all good people, and wouldn’t kill wantonly. The Marmo, however, had cut a swath of destruction across southeastern Lodoss. Not all humans were like what Estas told her, which filled her heart with hope, but there were many that were, and that made her feel despair. She wasn’t disheartened, however. She and Parn fought alongside the Valisians in the final battle of the War of Heroes, and saw both Fahn and Beld slain. Both kings lost, leaving the Marmo and Valis forces at a stalemate. For the next fifteen years, Kanon and the surrounding region would be occupied by the Marmo, but the Marmo would be able to gain little more ground than what they held. After seeing the end of the War of Heroes, Parn and Deedlit rejoined their companions to complete another mission. Karla, the Grey Witch, had instigated the war, and they now knew that she possessed the body of the Marfa priestess Leylia. The six new heroes faced off against the ancient sorceress to save both Lodoss, and Leylia. Ghim fell to the witch’s spell, but it was his axe that removed the cursed circlet from Leylia’s head, freeing the priestess. However, Karla was not defeated. Instead, she took possession of Woodchuck and escaped. Their company parted ways after paying their final respects to Ghim. Slayn took Leylia back to her mother, and soon married the priestess. Etoh went to princess Fianna’s side and eventually married her as well, leading to him becoming king of Valis. However, Parn was determined to find Woodchuck, and Deedlit remained at his side. They traveled Lodoss for the next few years, trying to find rumors of a black haired sorcerer. Alania and Moss fell into civil war, and presumably, it was Karla pulling the strings behind them. Two years later, Parn and Deedlit’s journey brought them to Flaim, which was on the verge of civil war as well. The two clans of Fire and Wind were clashing, and it was rumored that the Fire clan was led by a black haired sorcerer. Pursuing this rumor, they went to see Kashue. Unfortunately, their hopes of finding Woodchuck were dashed, as it seemed the sorcerer was actually a shaman. However, because of this, Kashue asked Deedlit for her help as a shaman. The Fire clan shaman had control of Efreet, and with the fire king, Flaim was at the mercy of the tribe. Parn and Deedlit agreed to help, and halt their search for Karla. Kashue requested Deedlit to summon Salamander, which she was not pleased to try. Salamander is considered a destructive and evil spirit by high elves, and rarely summoned. Deedlit was ashamed to have to attempt it, but she did. However, her simple attempt to summon Salamander brought Efreet’s attention to her. The fire demon erupted from the brazier she had summoned from. Deedlit was thrown aside and knocked unconscious. She may have been burned to a crisp, but with the help of an enchanted sword provided by Kashue, Parn rushed in to save her. Efreet retreated, with a promise to meet Parn again. After their experiences in Flaim, Deedlit and Parn would return to Zaxon with Slayn and Leylia and build a small home together. During this time, Slayn took Cecil as an apprentice and “Little” Neese was born. However, the politics in Alania were fairing poorly. After the death of the last king, a Duke Raster was chosen to be regent, and he was a greedy, heartless man. His exorbitant taxes led to Slayn spearheading an independence movement where the villages of Zaxon, Hanam, Zelni, and several others in the region declared independence from the nation of Alania and Raster’s unrealistic expectations. Raster sent soldiers and mercenaries to extort the due taxes from the village, and eventually, he ordered Hanam razed as an example to the other independent villages. A wounded Hanamite wandered into Zaxon to be found by Parn and Deedlit, who managed to explain a little before he collapsed, dead. Deedlit and Parn rushed to Hanam, hoping to save more people, but what they found when they reached Hanam were destroyed homesteads, slaughtered villagers, and mercenaries camping in what was left of the village. As they observed, they were startled when another elf appeared... It was Estas. Estas had left the Forest of No Return to take Deedlit home, and as he traveled to Zaxon, he saw the smoke from the remains of Hanam and had stopped to investigate. He had already counted the soldiers, and saved Deedlit and Parn the work of scouting. He was cold to Parn, but Deedlit was still overjoyed to see Estas again—until she knew the reason he came. Estas returned to Zaxon with Deedlit and Parn, and spent much of his time harshly critiquing her friends and humanity in general. At first, Deedlit tried to explain and put him at ease, but Estas’s criticisms began to wear on her... and then, he revealed the truth; he had been sent to retrieve her. Deedlit defied him, and insisted on staying, so they made a deal; if she could prove that humans were not as evil as he believed, then she could stay. Shortly afterwards, there was an attack from Raster’s ranger on several village guards. A village meeting was called, which Estas and Deedlit sat in upon. The Zaxon villagers could not reach a consensus about what to do, however, and Estas was no impressed. Parn, Deedlit, Slayn, Leylia, Cecil, and Estas gathered at Parn’s homestead to try and make a decision on their own. They asked for Estas’s help, but he refused. After all their discussions though, they could not make a decision either, and everyone went home. That night, Deedlit was awakened by a scream outside the village, and she ran out to discover the source; the mayor of Hanam had been left unconscious outside the gates of Zaxon. He was taken back to Slayn and Leylia’s home for healing, and they found a letter on him from Duke Raster addressed to the people of Zaxon. It was an ultimatum; demanding that the people of Zaxon turn over the Sage of the North and his accomplices, and the people of Zaxon would be spared, but if they refused, they would suffer the same fate as Hanam. Slayn decided that it would be honorable to show the letter to the people of Zaxon and let them decide, but Deedlit feared for the worst and was shocked that he would risk their lives. Another village meeting was called, and the people of Zaxon were left torn and frightened. Parn insisted that the only option was to fight Raster’s men outside of the village, but very few of the locals wanted to support him. The meeting was adjourned, and Deedlit and Estas returned to her home with Parn. There, Estas revealed that it had been the hopes of their clan that they would one day marry, and that he loved her. Deedlit was shocked, not even Parn had expressed such feelings for her—but Parn was the one she''loved. While they spoke though, the villagers of Zaxon had mobilized and surrounded their home. The mob had decided that they would comply with the duke, and so they tried to take Slayn and his associates by force. With all the turmoil she had experienced recently—Estas coming to take her home, the deaths of so many, all the threats to her happiness with Parn—Deedlit lost control of her temper and began to summon Aruku to take out her rage on the villagers who had betrayed those she held dear. However, Estas was able to subdue her by putting her to sleep with a spell of his own. After her outburst, the villagers explained themselves to Slayn and Parn, and Parn made the decision to set out to fight the soldiers, regardless of if anyone followed him or not. He immediately donned his armor and took up his sword, then set out. The next morning, Slayn, Leylia, Cecil, and Deedlit gathered to explain what Parn had done, and finally, the villagers were inspired. Taking up arms, the able-bodied followed Parn out onto the road. After marching for a few miles, they finally found the Free Knight waiting for them. At this act, Estas was finally convinced that there was some good in humans, and thus, he allowed Deedlit to remain. A couple years later, after the battle with Raster’s soldiers in Hanam taught the duke a lesson, the duke took a step back from his initiative against the independent villages. However, he still sent soldiers and mercenaries to collect back taxes. Two of these mercenaries were Shiris and Orson, who had been hired along with several other men. While Cecil was left in charge of the village, they came to collect taxes and lured him out of the village. However, Deedlit and Parn returned at this point and were able to defeat the mercenaries. As they fought Shiris and her men, Orson went berserk when Parn defeated her in a duel. After they managed to subdue him, Shiris and Orson were taken back to Zaxon to rest, and . While they were there, Slayn and Leylia returned from Tarba with dire news. Ashram had recently appeared in Tarba and spoke to Neese about the treasure Bramd had guarded, and revealed that he had slain the dragon and found nothing. Leylia recanted a tale of the fall of Kastuul, which she recalled from her time as Karla’s host. Apparently, guarded by one of the ancient dragons was a relic called the Scepter of Domination which would allow the wielder to control the people of Lodoss. This was Ashram’s goal, his way at conquering and uniting Lodoss in the dream of his emperor. Parn, Deedlit, Slayn, and Leylia of course, had to set out to stop Ashram, and Shiris and Orson agreed to come along. '''Quotes' “A human life, a worm’s life; a life is a life.” “I don’t understand you humans at all. But then, maybe that’s what makes you so fascinating!” “As long as you keep moving forward, you can always find radiance.” “War doesn’t show any mercy to its victims.” “The world is full of people who will get you from behind. Let me handle them. You focus on what’s ahead.” 'Appearances in the Series' Deedlit is one of the pivotal characters of the series and has appeared in all the Lodoss series—with the exception of the Lady of Pharis/Legends of Lodoss series, though she and Parn did make a cameo appearance at the end of the Lady of Pharis manga. Her and Parn’s role in the Chronicles of the Heroic Knight story arc (the manga and second half of the CotHK anime) was less pronounced as Spark’s group became more prominent, but they did have their own important roles as they helped Reona take back Kanon. Deedlit even has a namesake novel and manga, Deedlit’s Tale, which tells the story of her youth, introduces the potential romantic interest of her friend Estas, and chronicles the deeds of herself and Parn, along with their budding relationship, during the struggle for Zaxon’s independence from Alania. 11 1.jpg Deedlit6.jpg Deedlit-.jpg 227668-deedlit.jpg 175223.jpg Recordoflodosswarpic.jpg Deedlit.jpg A4 8.jpg 01-020.JPG Category:Elves Category:Females Category:Characters Category:Main characters Category:High elves Category:Shaman